NBA

Knicks turn back Bucks rally, survive opener

At least the Knicks are ahead of the Nets in the Atlantic Division for one day.

It wasn’t a masterpiece, but the Knicks survived blowing all of a 25-point halftime lead to win their season opener, 90-83, Wednesday over the lowly Bucks at the Garden.

The Knicks opened their season with a flourish in building a 56-31 bulge at intermission before collapsing. The Bucks took a one-point lead with 3:13 left before the Knicks busted out on a 10-2 run to close the game, with two key baskets by Carmelo Anthony to seal it and a ferocious Tyson Chandler a commanding presence on both ends early and late.

With the much-hyped Nets losing in Cleveland, the Knicks take their 1-0 record to Chicago Thursday night to face the Bulls.

“I told the guys we got to put games away, especially with a back-to-back coming,’’ said Chandler, who had 10 points, five blocks, six rebounds and even hit his lone experimental jump shot.

Anthony finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-of-16. The only Knick to lay an egg was newcomer Andrea Bargnani, who got benched and booed in a 3-of-9, six-point performance in his Knicks debut.

“I guess it’s easy to say we got [complacent], but we won the game,’’ said Anthony, who had a bag of ice on his healed left shoulder for “precautionary’’ reasons. “We got to learn from this, get better. This is over with. Everyone responded. We all had to trust each other at the end. We had to buckle down and get back to how we started the game.’’

Mike Woodson’s starting five began and ended with panache. The Knicks coach used the same starting lineup that soared down the stretch last season with a two point-guard backcourt of Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni, Iman Shumpert to small forward, Anthony at power forward and Chandler at center. Bargnani, who started all preseason, was odd man out.

“This unit is kind of battle-tested from last season,’’ Woodson said. “They are battle-tested defensively, and we made every defensive play we had to make. We had to have that in order to secure the win. We were pretty good defensively all night.’’

Shumpert added 16 points, including one spectacular defensive rebound and coast-to-coast layup and foul. The Chicago product now gears up for his city rival Derrick Rose on Thursday in what the Knicks combo guard calls “a home game for me.’’ Shumpert expects to spell Felton guarding the Bulls superstar.

Felton, who tweaked his strained left hamstring, finished with 18 points. He left for the locker room briefly and Woodson put his status in doubt for Chicago. But Felton said he believes he will be “on the court” Thursday, saying he hopes it doesn’t “hamper’’ him.

The Knicks led by just 10 after three quarters, getting outscored 33-18 in the third. The Knicks continued their sloppy ways in the fourth quarter, committing nine turnovers in the first nine minutes — with Prigioni uncharacteristically coughing up the ball. The Knicks committed a ghastly 22 turnovers overall.

“We weren’t patient enough against their zone,’’ Prigioni said.

The Bucks got within one point after back-to-back turnovers — one by Anthony, the other on a Shumpert pass to Melo underneath. O.J. Mayo capitalized, speeding to the hoop for a layup, cutting it to 76-75 with 5:50 left.

After Prigioni lost the ball in the backcourt, Butler hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 80 with 4:25 left. John Henson’s free throw with 3:13 left put the Bucks up, 81-80.

“They never gave up,’’ Anthony said.

A Chandler putback slam of an Anthony missed reverse got the Knicks in the lead for good at 82-81. Then Melo got going, scoring on a tip-in, then backing in Butler for a bunny in the lane to give the Knicks a safe 86-81 bulge.

But Anthony admitted they don’t win it without Chandler, a disappointment in their second-round knockout last season vs. the Pacers.

“He was big on both ends of the court,’’ Anthony said. “Blocks, putbacks. He was a big reason why we won this game.’’

After taking the 25-point halftime lead, it figured the only drama left was whether Bargnani would make his first shot as a Knick after going 0-for-4 with two turnovers in the first half. The 7-foot Italian heard boos after getting his shot blocked then again after a traveling violation.